If you had told Brandon Bryant on Nov. 22, 2014, that he was going to see the Lafayette football team win only three games over the next two seasons, he might have told you you needed to have your head examined.

Bryant, then a freshman linebacker, and the rest of the Leopards were basking that day in the thrill of a 27-7 victory in the 150th Lafayette-Lehigh game before more than 48,000 people in Yankee Stadium. The Leopards finished 5-6, and they couldn't wait for the 2015 season.

Well, 2015 turned out to be a big season for Bryant, with 114 tackles and a second-team all-Patriot League selection; but Lafayette finished 1-10, 0-6 in the league.

It didn't improve much in 2016, 2-9 and 1-5 in the won-lost column and a torn-up knee that ended the Cherry Hill, N.J., student-athlete's season in the fifth game.

The Patriot League's 2017 preseason poll announced Thursday had the Leopards tied for sixth (last) place with Georgetown, and when Bryant was asked if the placement fired him up, he said, "Absolutely. Whenever somebody puts you at that point, it motivates you to want to prove people wrong. It goes by the record you had last year, so I understand why we were put there. but I don't think that's where we'll end up, by any means."

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Bethlehem Catholic won another EPC title in girls basketball with a 40-37 win over Allentown Central Catholic on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018.

Bethlehem Catholic won another EPC title in girls basketball with a 40-37 win over Allentown Central Catholic on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018.

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Bethlehem Catholic won another EPC title in girls basketball with a 40-37 win over Allentown Central Catholic on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018.

Bethlehem Catholic won another EPC title in girls basketball with a 40-37 win over Allentown Central Catholic on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018.

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Jessica Armstrong, a standout performer in the 1970s and 1980s for the Parkettes, now works to protect athletes from predators like gymnastics physician Larry Nassar.

Jessica Armstrong, a standout performer in the 1970s and 1980s for the Parkettes, now works to protect athletes from predators like gymnastics physician Larry Nassar.

"I think the biggest thing is people are competing, people are hungry and people are ready for change," the 5-11, 225-pound senior said during the league's media conference call. "Obviously, the last few years haven't been great for us, but I see people wanting to change that. I see my teammates and their reaction and I'm excited to join them in that."

A new head coach in John Garrett; a coaching staff that includes only one member of last year's staff and 75 players who spent the last four weeks getting to know one another better during the second of the summer workout periods are responsible for some of the positive vibes.

Garrett, speaking on the same conference call, talked about a unity that he has seen within the team in the six months since he's been in the head coach's chair.

"The way these guys have come together, the way the older student-athletes on the team have shepherded and guided the young players when they arrived in the summer has been fantastic to see," Garrett said. "I'm pleased with the development and improvement as a team offensively and defensively."

But he also said that because the Garrett-led Leopards haven't played a game yet, it's impossible to give an accurate assessment of strengths and weaknesses.

"Every year you have to put the team back together," he said. "It's never the same team. It might be the same uniform, but it's never the same team."

Lafayette's first day of preseason camp is Aug. 3, and the most obvious question concerns the starting quarterback. Eight QBs are coming to camp – four of them incoming freshman and only one who has thrown a college pass.

"I'm excited," Garrett said. "We have a lot of talented kids there and it's going to be thrilling and exciting to see how they compete and who steps up to be the starting quarterback."

Asked how long the battle for No. 1 could continue before the field had to be narrowed down, Garrett said, "We don't determine that. They do, based on their performance. So, what happens is, we go out to practice and we watch them. We watch who completes a pass, leads the team, handles a situation that conducts the offense the way it should be, reads defenses properly, gets the ball where it should be, all that. We just watch them to see who's playing the best. Trust our evaluation. Usually it happens in a timely manner, certainly ready for the first game."

He called it "a simple approach … one that's meritorious. There will be daily decisions, weekly decisions, three-day decisions, all based on how they perform. The players determine the depth chart."

The league, in addition to the preseason poll, named its preseason all-star team. Lafayette has just two members – linebacker Bryant and tight end Dylan Wadsworth.

Bryant has 210 tackles in his 2 ½ seasons and was recently cleared to practice fully after missing spring practice while rehabbing his knee. Wadsworth, a 6-3, 245-pound senior from Greenwich, Conn., was first team all-league last year when he had 42 catches for 591 yards and two touchdowns. It was a breakout year for him after breaking into the starting lineup in 2015 as a sophomore.